


Difference of Perspective

by TheCurvedWritingDesk



Category: Midnight Poppy Land (Webcomic)
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-04
Updated: 2020-09-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:47:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,211
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26284426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheCurvedWritingDesk/pseuds/TheCurvedWritingDesk
Summary: Essay on my writing. In response to recent criticism.
Comments: 26
Kudos: 71





	Difference of Perspective

Difference of Perspective

I’d like to start by saying I’m sorry this is not a story update. I will post one tomorrow for those of you waiting for chapter two of Ripples. However, I feel some things need to be said. First, I’m someone who normally chooses not to engage in drama and would normally choose not to respond or acknowledge a situation that I know could lead to escalation with someone I do not know personally, especially on the internet as 70-93% of communication is nonverbal. I'm also not seeking a response, I'm just throwing my two cents out there. Despite that though, I feel like this topic deserves to be discussed because it’s very important. For those of you that missed it or are not a part of the FB fastpass group, someone who was excited about my latest story created a post expressing their sentiment and the thread opened up a discussion about the way I portray Poppy and specifically Tora in my stories. Many individuals did not feel that the way I portray them is healthy and that in fact, my stories propagate themes that have negative impacts on women. Many of these individuals even stated that my stories had had severe negative emotional impact on them personally.

To begin I would like to apologize to those people. Being triggered is awful and I’m sorry to have put you through that, it is never my intent to do harm. As a victim and survivor of abuse myself I would never _ever_ set out to inflict harm on others in any way. I want you to know that I read what you had to say, really reflected on it to the point of rereading some of my stories with your perspective at the forefront of my mind and want you to know that I can understand where you’re coming from to a certain extent. As a result of that, I reread Midnight Poppy Land to try to piece together how we could have such different interpretations of this character and I reaffirmed a few things for myself. If you’re at all interested in what I have to say, please continue to read. If not, I hope you’ll accept my apology and continue to avoid any of my future works as I do not wish to hurt you any further.

If you’re still with me, thank you for being open minded and willing to read what I have to say:

** MY THOUGHTS: **

So, some transparency: I manage people for a living, particularly; I spend most of my days mediating conflict and working towards resolution. As a result, this has trained me to constantly be self-reflecting and conscious of others and their feelings. I find it utterly fascinating how multiple people can experience the exact same event and come away from it with completely different perspectives of what happened. Without open communication and healthy respectful dialogue, these differences of perspective often lead to conflict. Therefore, I always try to conduct myself with the ideology that I am listening to understand, not to respond. This, if I’m being honest, is something I feel, and have found, especially in my line of work, is at times, difficult to do when upset. Thus the reason the conflict resolution portion of my job exists. This is especially true when we have a viscerally emotional reaction to something (rage, triggered trauma, hurt, sadness, shame, etc.) as there are parts of our brain that react when we feel threatened or uncomfortable. This is a normal, natural, human reaction.

When I first read the commentary, as anyone would, I was saddened by it. One, because it was never my intent to anger or harm and I felt bad about being the cause of those emotions, and two because it’s something I have poured a fair amount of my time and thought into. However, if I wasn’t willing to receive criticism I never would have posted anything on the internet and therefore opened myself up to it. I also wouldn’t have taken on the controversial topics that I do. I am way too old to live under the delusion that everyone is always going to like or agree with you and personally, I feel that’s a good thing. Difference of opinion breeds critical thought and reflection and that is always a great thing. This is why I leave my writing open to everyone and do not moderate my comments. If you have something to say about my writing that is negative, your comment deserves to be there right along with the praise. I make a point to always respond to negative commentary so that the person is aware that I have seen, and validate their right to their opinion.

So, what is my point? Well, I obviously read Poppy and Tora’s interactions from a very different perspective than some of you. When people are communicating, tone of voice is extremely important; it changes the context of an interaction drastically and frequently. Once again, based on what I do for a living and personal life experience, I believe that what someone says is not always what they mean. This is especially true when tensions are high and someone feels they are not being heard or validated. I am guilty of this in many of my own personal life interactions when I was younger, and I’d be willing to bet many of you are as well. As I’m sure you’re already aware, when reading a webcomic, tone of voice is lacking and we have to rely on still body language and what is being said in order to read a situation. The way we perceive the tone of the statement will determine how we read that character, and the interaction. 

For example:

“go fuck yourself,” he joked.

“go fuck yourself,” he snapped.

“go fuck yourself,” he muttered under his breath.

“go fuck yourself,” he teased lightheartedly.

When all we have to go on is “go fuck yourself” it can be read and interpreted so many different ways. Some of the issues I deal with at work are as simple as an email being interpreted in a malicious way but when read aloud by the person who sent it, it is taken the way it was intended and the conflict is resolved simple as that. However, when a conflict arises that has to do with something as serious as harassment, bullying or abuse, more thought, explanation, time and consideration is needed, thus my desire to write this.

In my opinion, Tora is not perfect, and neither is Poppy. I write them as flawed and imperfect characters with messy interactions. However, at the end of the day, they are two people that love each other and want to do right by one another. I don’t think this is toxic. I see this as two people who are on a growth journey together and as long as they’re moving in the right direction consistently I don’t see anything wrong with portraying them this way. If anything, I think writing Tora as a magically perfect partner from the get go, despite his obvious recurring trauma, is a damning message as it paints someone who is in the mists of dealing with and processing their trauma (especially someone who actively wants to be better) as someone that is unworthy of love and toxic to others when all they might need is a little extra love and care and guidance to bring out who they really are. I take this notion personally due to my own life experience and I think it’s important that everyone checks their own biases and privileges regularly. Just because you disagree with an interaction does not mean that those interactions don’t happen between individuals with completely different backgrounds, beliefs or culture values than you.

I write my stories based on what I know and what I’ve experienced and through the shared experiences of others. I am all about rehabilitation through conflict and conflict resolution and that is the central theme of all my stories. If you don’t see it that way, that’s fine, that’s your opinion and I’ll have to respectfully ask that we agree to disagree. I’m not done writing and I won’t be for a long while. This is a public forum and I’m not going anywhere. Sorry that I’m not sorry if that upsets you. I have all my rationale below for my thoughts if ya care to explore my perspective. If not, all good and thanks for reading what you have.

All the best,

Curvy

P.S: For those of you who think I will ‘destroy’ Ulaan, I’d like to remind you, he’s not Tora. Why would I write them the same? They have completely different backgrounds, experiences, culture understandings and upbringings. All they share is a bloodline. But honestly, if you’re going to read my story based on preconceived notions about me as an author and are only interested in demonizing me, please just skip it; it’s no skin off my back. Thanks! <3

TORA’s CHARACTERIZATION: 

Trauma

Tora is deeply traumatized and lives in an environment where that trauma is regularly triggered and he is forced to interact with his abuser on a regular basis. He is habitually forced to commit atrocities and actions that obviously impact his emotional health negatively. It is my experience, people who are triggered on a daily basis struggle more to overcome and work through their trauma than those that are able to remove themselves from the traumatic environment and set themselves up in a safe place surrounded by those who can help facilitate their recovery. When individuals are triggered, often it evokes an anxious response. This anxiety is portrayed in a variety of ways, however in my experience, most people either shut down, or lash out. I feel Tora does both but his first instinct when he cares about the person involved, is to walk away. (ie: Walking away from Poppy during their first dinner date, Walking away from Alice when she asks what’s wrong, walking away from Gyu when he brings up whatever it was that Tora did to help him, taking his arm off of Poppy when she asks if this is goodbye for them and then retreating to his car to write her a note instead of communicating his feelings verbally and giving her the gifts in person.)

I feel that Poppy doesn’t allow Tora to walk away though. As evidenced from her chasing him down after their meal at Alice’s to confront him as well as her readiness and willingness to welcome him back into her life after he’s a jerk to her. As a result, I feel that as their relationship progresses, conflict would inevitably arise, as it does in all relationships. However, he recognizes when he does wrong and apologizes for it, and then actively tries to correct the behaviour, as he does in all my stories.

Tora, in my opinion has not had role models to provide him with the interpersonal skill sets he would need to properly navigate a healthy relationship with Poppy from the get go. I think it would take a lot of learning on his part and a lot of patience and instruction on hers. However, I think the most important and underlying distinction to make about his character is that he’s willing to do the work and is, deep down, inherently good. He’s just stepping up to bat with two strikes already against him. I think to characterize him as someone who would just automatically be a perfect partner is a little short sighted and diminishes/doesn’t acknowledge what he has been though, had to overcome and the way his ‘positive role models’ actually interact with him and the negative way that might impact his later interactions with others. 

He also openly admits that he struggles to communicate his feelings when he tells Poppy in chapter 38 that he really admires that about her. “…how do you do that? Talk about how you’re feeling so openly.”

When I write characters that care about Tora, I always try to write them from a place of compassion and patience for him, armed with the knowledge that he’s a soft heart clothed in heavy scar tissue. One has to look past the gruff exterior to see the marshmellow inside. As a result, I understand why some of you would read him as abusive and Poppy as someone who is trying to ‘save/change’ him. Because essentially, that’s what I’m writing, you’re not wrong.

The big ‘but’ here in my opinion, is that there is a big difference between ‘trying to change’ someone, and helping someone with their own journey towards growth. If someone is abusive, the behaviour is _ongoing_ and _cyclical_. I get why some of you would read him this way in my stories because I have written him over and over again at the beginning of my stories like this. However, they are not meant to be the same universe and all my stories stand alone. Each one is meant to illustrate character growth through conflict with others and conflict with self for Tora. All of my stories, in my opinion, show Tora’s growth of character and a regular effort to modify and correct abusive learned and modelled behaviour when it is pointed out to him. Thus, breaking the cycle and growing as a person. Is he perfect by the end of all my stories? No, of course not. Self-improvement is a marathon, not a sprint and although I write fiction, I like to write based on real human interactions which are messy and hard to navigate at times as they’re coloured by different perspectives based on diverse backgrounds, experiences and beliefs. Sorry I ain’t always all about that fluff life.

You may still feel that this is toxic and I get that. However, once again, my real job, in the real world, is to get people to understand where someone else is coming from and relate on an emotional level and then grow and learn from it. I watch growth happen _every single day_. If someone isn’t growing with you in your relationship: leave. If you voice that you are unhappy or uncomfortable and that person does not acknowledge your feelings or belittles you for them and this act is cyclical: leave. This is abuse and the person may apologize but unless the behaviour is actually corrected and actively reflected on by the person inflicting it, in my personal experience, they don’t have much respect for you or their own growth as an individual. However, no one is automatically going to be your perfect life partner, it is only through conflict and communication that we change and grow as individuals in all of our relationships thus learning how to be a better friend/partner/parent/family member. You’re never done growing or learning in my opinion and often those that are mentally and emotionally healthy are able to reflect and measure their own growth over years. You’re not the same person you were when you were 15 and you won’t be the same person you are now when you’re 30/40/50/60/pick an age. Positive growth and change are a part of healthy development and should be encouraged. You can let your trauma define you or you can work through it and grow from it.

I try to illustrate Tora’s respect for Poppy by his desire to acknowledge her feelings, her perspective, her wants, her desires and then modify his actions in response. However, sometimes it takes Poppy a long time to voice these things. If you’re someone who read ‘Weathering the Storm’ and quit reading before chapter 23, I totally get why you’re upset with me but I would encourage you to go back and read the resolution. If you still have an issue with the conclusion, I respect your opinion but I’m at peace with what I wrote based on the information I had about the character at the time, and respectfully, this is fanfiction. The great thing about that is that if you don’t appreciate one author’s interpretation of a character, there will always be someone else’s that you like. We have a myriad of incredibly talented authors on this site and I believe that you will have no problem finding stories that inspire joy and happiness for you.

Verbal Abuse 

When I read Tora’s dialogue, often I read it from an aggressive tone of voice; thus why I write him and his verbal interactions the way that I do. For instance, in chapter one he says: “that’s funny, you musta mistaken me for someone that gives a shit.” I read this aggressively, however he obviously doesn’t mean this as he does rush to Goliath’s rescue. Then later when he states “Fuck if I’m gonna save both their asses…” once again, he has every intention of doing so because he is a caring character. However, his actions and his words are not aligned. He goes on to threaten Gyu in chapter two over text even though we find out how close he is with him later in the story, and the fact that he cares about him enough to have done something to elicit crying. This once again illustrates his gruff communication despite his inner caring. However, he also speaks to those he does not care about aggressively. For instance with Vince in chapter five: “Fuck if I know,” “Give me a pay raise,” “Son you’re the only one that can get away with speaking to me like that”.

I believe another great example of his words being misaligned with his actions is when he catches Poppy from the tree as he says: “Get up. I don’t have all night”, “why would I want to mug someone like you?” “it’s none of your business” “is she daft? Who the hell says these things to a stranger?” I read all of these statements aggressively despite the fact they are interspersed with caring statements, like when he checks her over for injury. I feel Tora had a deep disconnect between what he feels and demonstrates through his actions vs his snap thoughts and statements.

This is further demonstrated later, when threatening Claude, he reprimands Gyu when he offers an ashtray by saying “better leave it out so everyone can see it, huh?” then says to the two boys with him at the restaurant, “the fuck are you two lookin’ at? Turn around and keep walkin.” I see this as evidence of verbally aggressive speech patterns towards everyone in his life.

This notion is later validated in my opinion when we encounter Quincey and he and Tora have a moment in the parking garage, “Yeah that’s real cute. You try doin’ that Quincey Boy.” Is a statement that reads like a threat to me. When Quincey tries to tell him violence is not the answer to everything or anything Tora rebuffs that by saying “and how’s that workin’ out for ya.” I read this aggressively as there is no question mark, as if he doesn’t actually care to hear Quincey’s response at all and is just trying to shut him up. He then goes on to hit Quincey and say: “Don’t get cheeky with me.” When Quincey explains his reason for wanting Tora’s help with Morrison, Tora accuses him of being “a pussy” (which I personally find offensive to women implying vagina=weakness) for allowing himself to be taken advantage of.

Tora ‘makes up’ for these statements almost immediately by reassuring Quincey that he would have in fact hurt Morrison more had Quincey not been present to still his hand. Although it is said in order to make Quincey feel better about the whole situation, I feel there is honesty behind the statement as Tora makes it a habit not to lie to those he cares about. Thus I write Tora as overly aggressive when not actively being checked by Quincey, Gyu or Poppy. 

He’s also nasty and physically aggressive with Quincey as a kid, saying “good eye fucktwat, ya can fuck off back home now. No one gives a shit, go without ya pants or fuck off.” When telling a story at thug’s pavilion. As you may already be aware, 60% of males who bully in school go on to bully in the workplace and develop criminal records before the age of 24. (prevent.net) Which I feel shows that people do not change overnight and often need to work on their interpersonal skills regularly, especially when poor interpersonal skills and behaviours have been modelled, in order to drastically change their behaviour towards others and themselves.

Tora draws clear boundaries with Poppy ie: “Sorry sweetheart, that question’s off limits. Ya want me to finish the story or nah?” Therefore establishing dominance and control in their conversation. He does this frequently by either changing the subject or distracting her. Quincey also points out to Tora that ‘girls don’t like possessiveness’ and Tora just smirks in response. Thus making me feel like this is a character trait of his and he sees nothing wrong with it.

He is also aggressive, in my opinion, with Alice and Joe. He destroys Alice’s tables, doesn’t acknowledge that she’s speaking to him and is rude to Joe by giving him the finger and saying “Fuck you too”. When they are trying to help him and acknowledge his hurt feelings. He also physically picks up Alice and moves her to another room when she embarrasses him in front of Poppy, this is one of the reasons that I often write him manhandling people including Poppy. It is also one of the reasons that I feel when he is uncomfortable he has trouble expressing himself and communicates his displeasure through physical touch.

When he goes on his first date with Poppy he gets upset with her and says, “Jesus Christ will ya leave my hat alone! Yeah, well what makes you think manhandling me will make it better?” This shows he understands manhandling someone does not help situations and is wrong but then proceeds to do it anyways, as he picks up Alice only a few minutes later. He then emotionally shuts down after Poppy admits she knows Lane and tries to walk away from the situation and then is cruel to Poppy in the alley. Accusing her of being in love with him and telling her she’s reading him wrong. I read all of these interactions aggressively/dickishly.

Anyways, I could go on forever, picking apart dialogue from every chapter but my point is that this is my interpretation: Tora is verbally aggressive towards everyone in his life, including those he cares for most. Tora is gruff but his underlying intentions are usually good and he often follows up a verbal aggression with a kind statement or action. I do not feel that he has had compassionate dialogue modelled for him as Alice makes jokes at his expense, Joe threatens to break his other jaw while trying to get him to go see a doctor, Alice threatens to have Joe beat him when he messes up, Gyu and Quincey both show a certain amount of fearful respect towards him and Vince is obviously extremely abusive in his speech patterns, regularly indicating that Tora does not have value unless he is violent/strong/angry and actively encourages rage filled responses. I think this is even more obvious when he writes in his goodbye letter to Poppy that he’ll ‘beat her ass’ if she doesn’t keep his personal items safe. This is very obviously a joke as I do not think that Tora would ever be physically abusive towards Poppy/ put his hands on her aggressively outside of bedroom play she consents to. However, the fact he feels the need to include it at all, I think says a lot about his upbringing and how naturally threatening behaviour and speech patterns come to him and how difficult changing the way he talks to others may be for him.

***Spoilers for episode 43 in the next paragraph***

In the latest episode for non-fast passers, Tora is a straight up douche to Poppy, calling her shortie, aggressively trying to snatch her proposal, and is very aggressive towards both Cordy and Quincey. In fact, he is so aggressive that Cordy feels the need to step in and deflect Tora’s upset away from Poppy. It is also revealed that Cordy knows Tora prior to this situation and states “this asshole?” which indicates they obviously have not had pleasant or positive previous interactions. Who’s at fault for this though has not been revealed yet but my money is on Tora. I feel we all interpret Tora’s outburst as coming from a source of panic. A desire to keep Poppy safe and away from danger. I feel this demonstrates triggering due to the lack of control in the situation. You may disagree but this is how I read that scene.

***spoliers end***

Anyways, this is just my personal perspective when I read his interactions. As I stated earlier, you could come away reading this with an entirely different perspective and that’s okay. However, I feel that the way I write Tora is true to my interpretation of his character. A man that means well, is actively trying to improve and reflect on himself and his interactions with others but still struggles to always say the right thing, especially when emotional due to his own past traumas. These outbursts happen, and are normal and natural considering the environment and the people he is surrounded by. I don’t think there’s anything abusive about snapping out at someone on occasion as I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t said something they didn’t mean in the heat of the moment. Also, can we just be real for a minute? Someone that hurts people for a living and doesn’t enjoy doing it is gonna be salty. 

** POPPY’s CHARACTERIZATION:  **

Some of you expressed upset with my portrayal of Poppy, stating that I write her too timidly/placating. Once again, this is my interpretation of her based on how I read the comic. However, my thought process behind illustrating her this way is not ‘I see her as Tora’s victim’ 'cause I don’t. I see her as Tora’s _champion and protector_. Someone who is intelligent and emotionally mature enough to see that he needs more love and patience than he sometimes deserves due to his extensive traumas and triggers. She’s someone who takes the time to look past his exterior and see what lies beneath and someone who checks him regularly with compassion and kindness and, occasionally, annoyance if she’s been holding it in for a while. I write her this way for a variety of reasons, the first being that she doesn’t like conflict.

In the very first chapter, not only does Poppy not cause a scene when she catches Julri cheating on her, or inferring that she would actually believe his weak lies, her first response is to answer his questions and _apologize_ to him. I believe Poppy is traumatized in her own way from her relationship with Julri as she actually asks herself what she did wrong in the relationship to prompt his cheating. She immediately looks for fault in herself for his actions and actually considers this fuckcunt’s feelings!

“I didn’t think you’d come without calling, either…” (julri)

“I did. But you didn’t answer, so I left a voicemail. Guess you were too busy giving lessons to check. _Sorry_. I’ll see you around.” (Poppy)

“Was this because of me? Did he get lonely? I left this town, to work in the big city, so was this all my fault?” “Maybe he cheated on me because he finds me gross…” (Poppy)

She then goes on to berate herself for not being more forceful/telling him off. She also admits “I’m just..I’m just not the confrontational sort.” This is why I write her putting up with Tora’s tone most of the time but never actions that truly upset her. In addition to putting other people’s emotions before her own, she also worries about all the negative consequences of her actions even when she knows what the ‘correct’ thing to do in a situation is. For example, when she finds the bloody shoe she states: “If it was just a prank, I’d be reprimanded for making a fuss out of nothing…and for wasting their time.” This demonstrates the tendency to take the time to consider all the possible consequences of an action or statement before choosing how to proceed. This is later evidenced again in her conversation with Tora:

“I mean he wasn’t very nice to me. I just didn’t know when, or how to leave. Or even…if I **_should_** have left.” (Poppy)

“You didn’t know if you shoulda stayed or left? Even though he wasn’t treating you right?” (Tora)

“You guys make it sound so easy but I don’t know… Maybe _I’m just inexperienced or dumb_ …but it wasn’t easy for me, at all. I’d lie in bed at night tossing and turning…replaying conversations and interactions we had…and just…trying to make some sense out of everything that felt off, to me.”

This leads me to believe she didn’t call Julri on his shit right away either. So it’s not that much of a stretch to think she would fall into the same pattern with Tora at the beginning of their relationship and withhold some of her feelings for fear of being made to believe her upset was unjustified. For example:

“he was really good at making me feel like I was over-thinking things or that I was just being petty and over-sensitive.”

“It was like my sense of ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ had become distorted…I could no longer tell which was which.”

In addition to this, Poppy is not overly confident and continually puts herself down throughout the comic; which leads me to write her as a meeker character who allows others to push her around sometimes. She even puts herself down when a situation is out of her control and is extremely kind and considerate to others who are often unkind to her. This is best shown through her actions towards Mr. Lam as she goes out of her way to rescue him to the point of putting herself in danger. Here are a small variety of her self-deprecating speech patterns littered throughout the comic:

~ ~ ~

“I’m sorry, you’ll have to wait till someone smarter and braver than me finds you.”

“Maybe I’m just inexperienced or dumb _”_

“Sometimes I feel like I breathe and I put on weight”

“You’re not wrong. I’m an awkward mess, I know.”

“You really think I’m pretty?”

“I need to find a place where I can die of embarrassment in private” In response to sending a damn text message that wasn’t embarrassing in the slightest in my opinion.

She apologizes for confiding in her friend who she should feel comfortable leaning on: “I’m sorry, Erdene…I didn’t mean to unleash all that rage on you.”

“I hope he won’t be too mad at me” (interaction with Mr. Lam) she then later states, “nevermind I’ll just work harder to impress him during the presentation” after he insults her by calling her a teenager, thus implying his disapproval of her and her acknowledgement of his judgement comes later. “He thought that I was a teenager. So I can’t imagine he’d even take me seriously after that.” 

“I hate that I’d let him down before I even started,” (conversation with Erdene about Gil and work, once again putting herself down and considers herself a failure to Gil for Mr. Lam’s actions whom she let dominate the conversation and not get a word out).

She openly admits to letting others have their way when she knows fighting them on something may negatively impact them emotionally. “When you’re as small as I am, sometimes ‘getting away’ is a better option than ‘getting your way’ I didn’t want him to feel more awkward than he was already feeling. Poor guy sounded so embarrassed.” “Maybe he’s just shy?”

She already expects Tora to be verbally unkind before she gets to know him: “#$*PC* this girl be lookin’ like a pikachoo. Imma take a #$*$! Photo of this damn pikachoo and show it to my $#&$ friends.” So when he is kind to her, she’s surprised and pleased by it and I believe doesn’t demand or expect it from him on a regular basis despite his continual demonstration that he is capable of being considerate towards her. 

She writes out her emotions rather than voicing them: “I’ll try to do some journaling, when I get back home today.” she states in response to “I don’t think you’ve even had time to process all of this, have you?” This leads me to believe she would bottle things instead of talking them out right away, she also keeps her interactions with Tora a secret from her Granny for fear of upsetting the woman.

She admits to being timid and looking to others for a sense of safety and security: “I was the complete opposite as a kid, I’d get anxious if grown-ups weren’t around, like…’uh oh, what if I get lost, how do I get home? What if a bad person comes along?”

~ ~ ~

Finally, I think Poppy would be placating and overly patient with Tora as she is in the comic from my perspective. She allows him to be physical with her in small ways that add up to shows of force and rarely calls him on them. He took her image without consent then gets hurt emotionally by _her_ being upset about it (which she has every right to be). He grabs her hand/wrist repeatedly throughout the comic without consent. He literally drags her down the street behind him when his car is towed. He grabs her upper arm a few times throughout the comic to control her body movement. He traps her in her hoodie, (which as someone who has been blindfolded without their consent before, this is terrifying to me and seeing her do it back to him was sweet justice, shove him down those stairs girl!). He extracts payment for favours, including a kiss in exchange for delivering her painting (the fact that Poppy is willing and into it and kisses him on the lips instead of on the cheek to demonstrate how okay with this she actually is, is the only thing that makes this okay with me). He literally ties her up against her will for her own safety at Regina’s peak and doesn’t untie her when she expresses upset over it and then justifies the action by saying he’s bigger than her. (wtf? Like actually? How is this not a fucked up/abusive interaction and flex of power?) He tries to rip her proposal for Quincey out of her damn hands, he yells at her, he cusses around her despite knowing she doesn’t like it, he insults her height. He purposely makes statements to make her uncomfortable (ie getting her name wrong/asking her to sleep with him/telling her she has big balls while making a gesture for her chest) all with the intention of ‘just teasing’. And Poppy puts up with _all_ of this with almost no fuss and only the occasional reprimand of his behaviour followed by almost immediate forgiveness.

She demonstrates this almost ‘saintly’ attitude towards the men in this comic regularly. For example, forgiving Jacob for his comments on her body, and reprimanding Tora for being upset about Jacob’s commentary stating: “He doesn’t mean any harm and even if he did, that doesn’t mean I have to accept it. Other people’s intentions are their own to keep, not mine”. I’m not sure about you but I would not be as forgiving and would appreciate Tora’s upset on my behalf as Jacob has no business commenting on her body.

She allows Mr. Lam to disrespect her and then cut their lunch short without even giving her the courtesy of informing her he’s leaving. She then runs around to save the old fart’s life and goes out of her way to paint him a beautiful canvas of him and his wife after picking up on the small comment he made about his face. She does all this because she’s aware of his internal and consistent sadness about his wife and his failure thus far to bring her wish to fruition. Poppy is incredibly forgiving of rash actions and doesn’t hold people to commitments if made without careful consideration as she realizes they might have regrets. She is so thoughtful in fact, that sometimes I feel uncomfortable writing her character as I personally am not even close to as kind, caring and forgiving as she is in my personal life.

** Final thoughts: **

If you read all that you’re a champ. Whether you agree with me or not I appreciate the time you put aside to read through it and explore the characters from my perspective. Remember, difference is the spice of life and should be celebrated! Have a great day guys! Happy Chapter Day!


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